The present invention relates to a lockable wheel coupling, and more particularly to a lockable wheel coupling for facilitating the quick mounting or removal of a wheel assembly, as of an automobile or the like, onto an axle plate thereof and which provides means of lockable securing the wheel assembly thereon.
Conventional wheel assemblies are normally mounted on an axle plate by means of a set of bolts which are inserted through aligned paraxial holes on the wheel and axle plate with the threaded ends of the bolts extending through the outer side of the wheel where securing nuts can be engaged thereon. This conventional means of attachment though well known and effective does have a number of shortcomings. Firstly, the mounting or removal of a wheel assembly requires the individual manipulation of a number of securing nuts which is time consuming and somewhat strenuous, especially for a casual mechanic such as a car's driver. This problem is ramified by the circumstances under which a wheel assembly is usually changed, namely when a driver encounters a flat on the open road where the driver must first find a suitable hand tool, such as a socket wrench, before he or she can remove the wheel. Furthermore, it is all too common an occurrence for one or more securing nuts to become displaced or lost when changing a wheel assembly on an open road, especially in poor lighting conditions during the night. Secondly, the conventional means of securement leaves a wheel assembly vulnerable to theft as the securing nuts can also be removed by others having the proper tools.
The lockable wheel coupling of the present invention overcomes these deficiencies of the conventional form of coupling by providing a coupling that enables rapid mounting or removal of a wheel assembly, and which provides a means of locking the wheel assembly to the axle plate so that only a user in possession of a proper key can remove the coupling.